What the Parise news means to the Rangers

Zach Parise will not be signing with the Rangers. Parise went on record today to openly express the fact he will not be signing with the Rangers nor will he consider it. ‘Don’t make a headline out of it’ was his final response to beat reporters when pressed on the matter.

Parise removing himself from the Rangers’ future plans narrows the obvious options the Rangers are linked to in order to upgrade their offense. Perhaps Parise ruling himself out of the Rangers future saves the Rangers from themselves. Should the current Devil have been up for grabs on July 1st there’s no guessing how much and how long Sather may have been tempted to offer Parise.

Can the Rangers afford to have another massive contract on the books and still get deeper? With Lundqvist eventually due an extension and Brad Richards’ long term deal, not to mention all the young players’ expiring deals, perhaps giving Parise a long term, mega-money contract wasn’t the most efficient way – among other things – of spending the cap space the Rangers seem to have in the short/mid term.

The Parise announcement may also help Columbus. GM Scott Howson will have noted that the Rangers now have one less alternative in their quest to add more skill and may hold strong to their (unrealistic) demands for Rick Nash. With a weakening free agent pool and uncertainty around players such as Alex Radulov, the Rangers may be forced to go after Nash and pay more than they want to. The next few weeks promise to be very interesting following the Parise news.

Well i guess that was nice of him to do that. Now we dont get our hopes up with Parise and it lets Sather to think about what he is going to do this offseason. There is still talk about a Nash trade, Bobby Ryan trade, signing Radulov and others

I agree, why go public. This attitude can be construed as an allegiance to NJ. This MAY discourage other teams than even NYR to not pursue him. He has sent a message that will hurt him in free agency. Why even go to FA if you won’t even listen tp potential offers. He hurt himself today

Yeah, I agree…I don’t see anyone so stubborn they won’t even consider. Although I’m not sure about your last point, those fans will be peeeeeisssed if he does turn coat…which, of course, would make it that much sweeter.

I agree. The classy thing to do would be to not answer. Now he will be booed in NJ and NY when he comes back from wherever he goes. He also hurts himself with what he said. There is no rule that says he has to take the highest offer but getting a high offer from the Rangers could be used to help negotiate.

I agree. What do you expect the Captain of the Devils to say, when his skates aren’t even out of his locker yet.

Come July 1st, he will be on a different team. Who knows who will have the best offer. Lots of good Stanley Cup contenders out there right now. The Kings, Rangers, Red Wings, are all good options for him. Don’t forget the state of hockey also wants him to play at home in MN. So you never know.

I still want him as a Ranger. And his Father even agrees Tort’s system is tailer made for him, AND he like playing for Torts. Why not win a Stanley Cup together?

Then there is an article that the KINGS want him as well. Pretty tuff to pass up on the defending champions, and have a house on the beach. LA needs more REAL ROLE models. Zack is a class act. I could see him as the a Poster Boy for the Kings.

He would be playing with Matt Greene – and old friend from college. They use to be dorm mates at Walsh hall on their first year at UND. So I could see the glitz of Hollywood and better weather, and just as good a chance to put your name on the Stanley Cup in LA. That team dominated the top teams in the playoffs, I can’t imagine how much better they would look with Zach on that team.

Yea I am not too broken up about this Parise situation. Honestly, the Rangers do NOT need another grinder like Parise. Would he have fit in on our hard working squad? Sure. But honestly, we need a pure finisher who can create on his own. We need another option on the PP who can move the puck quickly. Not someone who can just grind on the boards all game. This clogging the slot, defensive zone, blocking shot system is not sustainable. People are going to get worn out and injured. Need to get pure offensive talent.

I think Sather will obviously take a look at Rick Nash, but that price may be too steep. However, the move I am thinking about is going for Ryan Getzlaf or Cory Perry at some point next year. Both guys are UFA and if they do not make a deal, they will both be available at the trade deadline. The ducks obviously have the cap, but i doubt they will keep both.

Bottom line is, we need scoring plain and simple. As much as I would like Suter or Weber, the fact Henrik had a 1.82 GAA in the playoffs and we went 10-10 is all you need to know.

Someone made a comment saying i dont know if perry can play alongside gaborik and richards. Who said anything about putting all those guys on one line? The problem is we are a one trick pony on offense right now. Gaborik was already playing hurt, but add teams focusing on our top line and it makes it even tougher for him to do anything.

I agree Parise definitely has more skill than a grinder and I am honestly shocked by how strong his numbers are after watching him for 6 games in a row. I just really would like another pure finisher with better stick handling ability. Need a guy who can both fly and draw the attention of the D.

I dont care who it is, but with Henrik at his prime, it is time to make a move and fix this offense. It is pretty unbelievable that we added richards, added a pleasant surprise in hagelin, plus del zotto played better all year and our offense was worse this year than last. That is a sign that something has to be done.

Poor choice of words (word???) from Parise. But understandable considering that he was in the Devils locker room on break-up day. He would have been smarter just responding with either “no comment” or “at this time, we are still licking our wounds and I can’t even consider next year”.

Oh well, I still think we should make him an offer, with a deadline to accept or we pull it. Just to see if $$$$$$ changes opinions. In free agency, it usually does.

This is disappointing because it means somebody of substance (or more than 1 guy) from this year’s Rangers squad will have to be traded to get someone of Parise’s caliber in here. They just seem like a great group of guys who play the game the right way. But I guess this is why I’d never make it as a GM.

That’s actually very good news for the Rangers as they haven’t had much luck in signing AND overpaying Devil’s free agents in the past! Besides you don’t want anybody who really doesn’t want to be here anyway! I’m over it…..Let’s move on!!!

Why ON EARTH would the Rangers want to overpay for ANOTHER ex-Devil???? Devils groom them, win them banners, then they take more money from the Rangers & tank? Anyone remember Gomez, Holik, Driver, MacLean?